I added a timer to my TA today. Let's hope that fixes the program update issue. What's odd is that my 2nd HD TiVo with TA does NOT have any problems receiving the program updates - no timer needed for that one.

If you are running dd-wrt on your router, it is pretty easy to cut off the Tivos except for a couple of days / week. Of course you lose the ability to online schedule on short-notice, but otherwise it has been working fine for me for about a month now.

If mine keeps acting up, the next thing I'm going to try is remove the backup power supply. When I got the upstairs unit, I connected it to backup & had lots of problems so I removed it & basically never had any more issues. The downstairs unit has been on a backup power supply for years with no issues. So now it has occurred to me perhaps that is my problem.

Update:
My S3 has been completing GC every other day for months, until this week.
Checked GC today and it says last completion was Monday...
I disconnected the T/A this morning and will leave it that way until this afternoon to see what happens.

Only thing I have done recently was shuffled the season passes around and add a few.

Also observed last night was 5 to 10 second lag time responding to remote commands. And, picture & sound hesitation while watching a recorded program.

1530 hrs Just reconnected power to T/A and checked for completed GC.
Success! Back in business...

I removed the back up power supply one week ago and have had no problems since. It has been successfully updating daily and there have been no "program info will run out" messages. I've got my fingers crossed...

I removed the back up power supply one week ago and have had no problems since. It has been successfully updating daily and there have been no "program info will run out" messages. I've got my fingers crossed...

After a reboot (TiVo) if the GC completes, it should take a couple of weeks before seeing that message.

Check the line on system info marked GC; if the date is today or within 24 hours. You might be on to something...

After a reboot (TiVo) if the GC completes, it should take a couple of weeks before seeing that message.

Check the line on system info marked GC; if the date is today or within 24 hours. You might be on to something...

Before, I was getting the warning less than 1 week after a reboot, however, I checked GC & it shows Feb 15. I checked the other TiVo & GC says Feb 18. I think I still have a problem...

I wonder if it has something to do with all of the other things connected to the TiVo? The bedroom unit is connected directly with the TV and has a cable card and network adapter connected to it - plus the TA. The family room unit has: cable card, external hard drive, audio, TV, network adapter, TA. I had also switched the "bad" TA to the other TiVo and vice versa but the problem stayed with the same TiVo in the family room.

I got bored and built a switched USB cable to go between Tivo HD and TA.
It has 2 relays in it that cuts all 4 USB lines when it's powered via a 12V adapter. I moved the timer from the TA to 12V adapter for USB cable and now switch the USB connection off for 4 hours during the night instead of the TA itself.

This way I was able to remove the extra RF splitter and gain 3.5dB back on my signal (I had issues tuning to some SDV channels, no longer an issue)

For me, disconnecting the TA works the best and it's been months since I've seen a running out of guide message.

For me, disconnecting the TA works the best and it's been months since I've seen a running out of guide message.

I took my TA off the timer over three months ago and have been running normally ever since. GC, guide updates, and indexing every 18-36 hours. It's clear I had some sort of transient that caused my troubles. The only thing I know that changed is my deleted programs folder was down to one show when I had the problems and it is back to a more normal 85 shows now.

Has there been shown to be a connection between the number of deleted shows and GC completing? I first encountered the the problem when the deleted show count was over 500. I manually deleted shows from the DS folder and have been keeping it in the 250 to 300 range. The GC will now run about twice a week which keeps me out of trouble, but occasionally I have to disconnect power to the TA for about 3 hours to allow GC to complete.

Here we go again; GC appears constipated. GC has not completed since Monday morning. Indexing appears to be occurring each day as before.
(deleted files over 300)
I will wait until Saturday before a longer T/A power interruption.

UPDATE:
GC had completed sometime yesterday after noon.

Also noticed a new ad banner at the bottom of the now playing screen. There was no banner present for several days...

I put my new desktop computer togeather. I will be order the ceton cable card adaptor for 200.00 soon. I hope windows media center does not have a gc problem. I will use my tivo on my bedroom with a antenna

I put my new desktop computer togeather. I will be order the ceton cable card adaptor for 200.00 soon. I hope windows media center does not have a gc problem. I will use my tivo on my bedroom with a antenna

DO NOT RUN CHANNEL LINE UP FIX IF YOU RECEIVED S03 ERROR!
YOU WILL GET STUCK IN A NEVER ENDING GUIDED SETUP -> S03 -> REBOOT LOOP!

If you have S03 Error, you can fix it by running "Clear program information & To Do List"

Well, crap. I didn't see this and am now stuck in the Guided Setup/S03 loop on my THD.

It's been in the closet for a few months, but before I put it away it did have a TA attached (which was moved to another box). I pulled it out yesterday to set it back up and the connection failed with S03. Found this thread and started reading it ... should have actually finished it because once I found the Channel Lineup fix I tried that and am now stuck.

So am I correct in understanding that at this point, the only solution is to re-image the drive? My last WinMFS backup was from January 2011 so I'll have some re-setup to do but if that gets my TiVo HDXL working again I can deal with that.

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I think theres a way out of this. someone on here was able to get out of the s03 setup reboot loop but i dont know how he did it. You can call tivo they might know how to fix it.

you should of just unpluged your tivo from the internet so it could get cought up on the guide info.

I did the same thing a year a go. i had to use winmfs with a back image i had. If you use winmfs to make a backup it will back up the loop to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by windracer

Well, crap. I didn't see this and am now stuck in the Guided Setup/S03 loop on my THD.

It's been in the closet for a few months, but before I put it away it did have a TA attached (which was moved to another box). I pulled it out yesterday to set it back up and the connection failed with S03. Found this thread and started reading it ... should have actually finished it because once I found the Channel Lineup fix I tried that and am now stuck.

So am I correct in understanding that at this point, the only solution is to re-image the drive? My last WinMFS backup was from January 2011 so I'll have some re-setup to do but if that gets my TiVo HDXL working again I can deal with that.

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I said in this thread back in Novbember that I was going to experiment with an HTPC. I have done so, and while there have been problems, overall I'm relatively happy. Not ecstatic, but not tearing my hair out either.

Comments and observations:

- Windows is unforgiving and ridiculous when it comes to DRM (Digital Rights Management). I changed the processor in my HTPC (not the motherboard, just the processor). Any recordings that were restricted copy (which on TWC is everything but the network channels) would not longer play. My advice is to make sure you have robust hardware to start with and don't make ANY changes.

- I have had problems with my Ceton USB. The AVS Forum thread is interesting. I have been able to solve them by pulling the plug on it and putting power back to it. Lately it has been pretty stable, but it definitey is not like a Tivo HD. Not quite ready for prime time. Fortunately I have enough other tuners that I haven't missed any recordings, but I'm definitely not ready to cut the cord yet.

- AFAIK, I have had no problems related to the TA. Sometimes when I reboot the HTPC the TA doesn't hook up correctly (blinking light) and I have to power it on and off, but most of the time it does fine by itself.

If you don't mind tinkering, it's not bad. And by tinker, I mean you are pretty comfortable around computers, drivers, software, troubleshooting, etc. If you expect a consumer ready device like a Tivo, stay away. I personally think a lot of the problems are related to Windows and Windows Media Center, and not all Ceton's fault, but at the end of the day, all you want is something that records reliably. A couple if times I haven't been able to watch recordings, and it turned out that Windows could no longer see my display device driver. I had to uninstall the driver, reboot, and then things were O.K. I blame that on Windows, but who knows??

It is quite nice to have 4 tuners. And the ability to go online, or whatever else you do with your computer. I have put my DVD library on hard disks, so I can watch TV or movies all from WMC, with cover art and synopses.

As I said, I'm relatively happy, but not ecstatic. I have a feeling I will get there - just not sure when.

P.S. My Tivo HD is humming along with the TA on a digital timer. I have it off from 5:05 - 8:45 each morning, and it updates at least every other day like clockwork.

Edit: In fairness, I have to believe a lot of people have no issues. It's probably like this TA issue we're dealing with - we have problems with it, but most don't. With the inifinte possibilites of different hardware and software combinations when you're dealing with Windows, it could be a random event. Just don't go into it assuming everything will work out. It may not.

My understanding is that Ceton is working on their own 6 tuner device that will be a complete DVR, based on WMC 7. I have to believe that when that is released it will be quite robust.

My last WinMFS backup was from January 2011 so I'll have some re-setup to do but if that gets my TiVo HDXL working again I can deal with that.

I was able to restore my 1TB drive with my old backup (which had 11.0j) and get my box working again. After it updated to 11.0k I did clear & delete and then re-ran guided setup. I have to re-build all my SPs now, but that's why I have 'em documented (and I can copy some via tivo.com).

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I said in this thread back in Novbember that I was going to experiment with an HTPC.

I have been "experimenting" with HTPC for over 10 years. With varying degrees of success and frustration...
That said: HTPC is not for 99% of consumers; for the reasons (specific and generic) mentioned in your post above. And, in my house a total FAIL in WAF. To this day she does not use HTPC at all.
The only reason I built the first one; at that time it was the cheapest way to record OTA HD programming.

Well, crap. I didn't see this and am now stuck in the Guided Setup/S03 loop on my THD.

It's been in the closet for a few months, but before I put it away it did have a TA attached (which was moved to another box). I pulled it out yesterday to set it back up and the connection failed with S03. Found this thread and started reading it ... should have actually finished it because once I found the Channel Lineup fix I tried that and am now stuck.

So am I correct in understanding that at this point, the only solution is to re-image the drive? My last WinMFS backup was from January 2011 so I'll have some re-setup to do but if that gets my TiVo HDXL working again I can deal with that.

Me too, got the S03 loop after only reading partway thru this thread. Shelved the TiVo for now as I'm dreading the restore. If someone knows how to get out of the loop I'd appreciate it

Does the tuning adapter cause the so3 error? I only had it happen on one tivo hd and it had a stock 160 gig drive. I replaced the 160 drive with a 160 gig drive taken out of another tivo hd. the wd dvr expander worked with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjsmith3

Me too, got the S03 loop after only reading partway thru this thread. Shelved the TiVo for now as I'm dreading the restore. If someone knows how to get out of the loop I'd appreciate it